Zhao Tiezhu headed to the village clinic, while Zhu Hongyu went to tell her mother about his plan.
"You don't know, Tiezhu thrashed Bai Guang and his gang yesterday until they didn't know which way was up. He certainly isn't afraid of Zhou Erhu. You silly girl, let’s go pick the vegetables!"
Auntie Zhou had been standing in the backyard yesterday and had witnessed Zhao Tiezhu’s impressive display of strength. She simply hadn’t mentioned it because she didn't like to gossip. But now, she was no longer afraid.
Zhu Hongyu paused for a moment, looking surprised. "Really? He wasn’t that good at fighting when he was a kid; he was always the one getting bullied!"
"You haven't seen him in six years. How could he not have changed? Hurry up and get to work!"
The three women skipped breakfast and went to the fields to harvest vegetables. Selling a bit more produce would help ease their family's financial burden.
...
On the other side, Zhao Tiezhu arrived at the clinic at a brisk pace. He found that the person inside was not the familiar Old Zhao, but his daughter-in-law.
"Sister Guihua, where is Old Zhao?"
Tian Guihua, who had been lost in thought, jumped at the sound of his voice and snapped back to reality. "Tiezhu? You’re really back?" She exclaimed in surprise, then added, "My father-in-law and my husband went out for a house call on a snowy night last year, and they were hit by a car while on their motorcycle. Neither of them survived."
"Now it’s just us orphans and widows left, struggling to get by." She sniffled, wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, and asked in a choked voice, "What would you like to buy?" As she spoke, she stood up from behind the counter, ready to fetch whatever he needed.
Zhao Tiezhu hadn't realized that Old Zhao had passed away, leaving only Sister Guihua, who had graduated from a nursing school. She didn't have the qualifications to prescribe medication, only to administer IV drips and sell basic cold medicine. Her life must be very difficult. *Sigh, everyone has their own burdens to bear.*
He asked for a pack of acupuncture needles and some alcohol-soaked cotton.
"You know acupuncture? Really? Could you teach me?" She laughed sheepishly after saying it. "Don't take that to heart; I’m just overthinking things. Here you go, let me get that for you!"
Having studied medicine herself, she knew how difficult acupuncture was. It required a solid theoretical foundation and three to five years of training before one could even think of practicing professionally. Zhao Tiezhu had studied chemical engineering in college—it had nothing to do with medicine.
She placed the two items on the counter and said, "That’ll be forty-five. But please, don't just stick these in anywhere. The needles are very flexible; if one breaks off inside the body, it’ll be a huge mess."
Zhao Tiezhu nodded, paid, and left. Even if he did have medical skills, it wasn't the kind of thing one could easily pass on to others.
Back home, he took out the Shennong Cauldron, poured a single drop of Hundred Herbs Liquid into a Sprite bottle, filled it with water, and carried it with him.
After preparing everything, he went to the Zhu family home and noticed the three women busy harvesting vegetables, so he called Zhu Hongyu over to help.
"Coming!"
Zhu Hongyu ran over, her clothes fluttering as her chest heaved with the movement, creating a graceful curve. The sight was so stunning that Zhao Tiezhu couldn't help but be momentarily distracted. He only regained his focus when Zhu Hongyu, her face slightly flushed, waved her hand in front of him.
*She’s still a young girl, but she’s certainly well-endowed.*
To avoid the awkwardness, he asked, "Couldn't the hospital have treated your uncle’s injury? Why wait until now?"
"Sigh!" The shyness on Zhu Hongyu’s face slowly faded. As she walked toward the house, she said, "My dad was injured in a fight. We had to wait to get a forensic medical appraisal for the lawsuit, which delayed things. Then we lost the case, the money was gone, and they still had to pay for my university tuition, so..."
Her eyes grew red, and tears began to fall.
Zhao Tiezhu suddenly understood. No wonder she harbored such deep hatred for the village head’s family and was so determined to see Bai Guang and his gang locked up. It must have been because of that lawsuit.
"Don't worry, even if there was a delay, I can still heal him!"
Zhu Hongyu didn't think it was possible, but she didn't want to reject Zhao Tiezhu's good intentions. Even if he couldn't cure him, giving her father some hope to keep going was enough. At least it would give him the strength to see the village head's family put behind bars.
They entered the room, and Zhao Tiezhu got to work. He poured boiling water into a basin and mixed in enough cold water to get the right temperature. He moved Zhu Dazhuang to the edge of the bed so his lower leg hung off the side. He first cleaned the injured area, which had never been properly tended to due to the pain.
Watching Zhao Tiezhu patiently wash her father’s feet, Zhu Hongyu’s eyes shimmered. The childhood friend she grew up with was even kinder than her own cousins. Her cousins' family had been afraid of being implicated and had barely spoken to them since the incident. Zhao Tiezhu’s image in her heart was restored, as tall and impressive as when he had first been accepted into university.
After cleaning the leg, Zhao Tiezhu opened the acupuncture needles and alcohol cotton, preparing for the treatment.
"Uncle, don't be afraid. It might be a little painful, but it won't be unbearable!"
After giving him a heads-up, he used his left hand to wipe the area above the forehead with alcohol-soaked cotton. With his right hand, he held the needle, silently calculating the acupuncture points. Although the acupuncture chapter of the *Shennong Classic of Materia Medica* described how to drain blood and perform acupuncture, he knew the points even better. However, this was his first time; he couldn't be expected to hit the mark perfectly every single time, right?
He pressed on the skin twice to gauge the distance, then plunged the needle in. It slipped easily between the bone gaps, successfully numbing the pain nerves.
*Success!* He breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Dazhuang felt nothing and said happily, "Tiezhu, go right ahead. I’ve come to terms with it. If it doesn't work the first time, we’ll try a second. You’ll definitely be able to heal me!" He was full of confidence, turning the tables to comfort the young Tiezhu.
Zhao Tiezhu let out a breath of relief. Since the first needle was placed correctly, the rest would be much easier. He went on to select the Sanyinjiao, Zhubin, Jiaoxin, Taixi, and Dazhong points.
As he got into the rhythm, his speed increased because his calculations became faster. To Zhu Hongyu, it didn't look like Zhao Tiezhu was just putting on a show. Even though he had inserted so many needles, her father didn't cry out in pain once, nor did he look like he was suffering through it. She could see the needles vibrating, and the muscles underneath twitching as if an invisible hand were pressing on them. It was quite magical. With her limited knowledge, she couldn't understand it at all.
However, she could see that as Zhao Tiezhu stopped the acupuncture, the black color on her father's lower leg seemed to have faded significantly.
Just as she was feeling confused, Zhao Tiezhu said, "Bring me a foot basin with some clean water in it!"
Zhu Hongyu hurried out and was back within fifteen seconds, carrying a basin that she placed at her father’s feet. Zhao Tiezhu picked up a flat blood-letting needle and pricked the Yongquan point on the sole of his foot three times. Zhu Hongyu saw her father’s leg twitch a few times; it should have been very painful, but he didn't seem to feel it at all, his expression remaining neutral.
She felt even more convinced that Zhao Tiezhu’s methods were mysterious and his acupuncture skills profound. Soon, drop after drop of black blood dripped into the basin, emitting a rotting smell. The greenish-black areas on the lower leg faded visibly.
Zhao Tiezhu began to twist the acupuncture needles to speed up the process.
"Drip. Drip. Drip..."
As the polluted blood dripped down, the clean water turned dark red. The process felt like an eternity. After a full half-hour, the greenish-black color disappeared completely.
Only then did Zhao Tiezhu stop twisting the needles. He looked up at Zhu Dazhuang and said, "Uncle, this next part will be very painful. Hold on!"
Zhu Dazhuang looked at him, bewildered, just as Zhao Tiezhu suddenly reset the broken bone. By the time the pain hit his brain, the motion was already finished.
"Argh..." He let out a pained cry and nearly fell over. Zhao Tiezhu caught him instantly, preventing him from hurting himself further.
He continued to work intensely. The reason hospitals were unwilling to take on old injuries like this was because flesh had grown over the broken bone, making it incredibly difficult to break and reset it without causing further damage. But in his hands, that was nothing. Using acupuncture needles to clear the meridians and realign the flesh, the pain was only temporary.